The best piece of advice we can possibly give you as far as sports betting is concerned is to take your time and pick your game. There is such an overwhelming array of sports out there to bet on, no one could possibly hope to become an expert on all of them, or even a fraction of them. Where sports betting is concerned you definitely don’t want to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. Bear in mind that the fact that there is such a variety of events to bet on works entirely in your favor because it means that if you pick your event and study it hard, there’s a good chance you’ll know more about it than the bookmakers. When you have decided on your event, put in the hours, and now consider yourself a stat God, remember that it pays to shop around when it comes to actually placing your wager. Especially with the smaller, more specialized sports and events you’ll find that taking the time to look around for the most favorable odds does pay off.

Wages

Moving on to wagering strategies, if you’ve been around the block a couple of times you’ll know that everyone has their ‘sure thing’ strategy and yet strangely enough, no one is rolling around in stacks of hundred dollar bills. There is no such thing as a a ‘sure thing’ there is no fool proof way to gambling riches. The only wisdom we have to impart as far a strategy is concerned is to rehash the age-old gambling common sense (that curiously, no one seems to ever listen to anyway.) First up, set your limits. Before you even consider placing your first bet you should decide how much money you are prepared to set aside for wagering, do so and only dip into that amount when placing your bets. Never withdraw from this initial amount, withdraw only the profits you make on top of it. This is the best method for keeping track of your gambling activities and how you are doing. Also we ought to mention the dreaded ‘loosing streak’ here, although utterly unscientific many gamblers develop a sixth sense for when things are starting to go wrong for them. When you inevitably find yourself not being able to make a winning bet, and you will, it’s best to quit and leave it for another day. Wagering twice as much in an effort to cover your losses is almost a sure fire way to get yourself in hot water so we would advise against it.

Keep Track

Be methodical, and keep track of what you bet where and what the returns or the losses were. Don’t gamble while under the influence of booze or drugs, many a fortune has been lost in that way. Where possible back the underdog at home as they are known for pulling rabbits out of their backsides in front of inspiring home crowds. Most importantly don’t get in over your head. Remember why you got into it in the first place, for a bit of fun and the chance to win some extra money, don’t start earmarking future winnings for this or that expenditure you have coming up. The kitty is what you gamble with and you only ever skim off the top. If do happen to find yourself making some money from sports betting you can always use some of your winning to make your gambling kitty bigger. As with all things in life, don’t get greedy and don’t forget to enjoy the sports you are betting on.

Withdrawals and deposits.

People often ask us why of all the forms of online gambling, sports betting seems to be the most complicated when trying to withdraw their winnings. The reason for this is that sports betting is still currently illegal in the U.S and as a result websites that offer sports betting services must conceal their financial movements as much as possible. The first way they do this is to set up several offshore companies with which to conduct business. If any of these companies should draw the attention of U.S authorities and get shut down they can always switch their billing to one of the other companies they have opened.

It’s not quite as simple as this though. Due to the fact that online gambling, or specifically sports betting necessitates not only being able to charge the customer, but also being able to return winnings into the customers account, having to constantly pay back money into customer accounts presents a serious problem. In fact credit card processors don’t like having to return money to accounts that have already been charged.

E-Checks

Echecks are now widely used online in the place of credit cards. They don’t present the same problems when refunding customers that credit cards do but are still tricky for sports betting websites to use. The first thing the U.S did to stop online gambling was to prohibit U.S banks from doing business with companies that are connected to gambling. So even when using Echecks the company will still not be able to deposit your winnings into the account that they charged you, nor will they be able to issue you a check from their own account. The reason for this is that it would be far too easy for someone investigating their company to do exactly what you have done and then trace the check. For this reason sites involved in online sports betting have become very careful about bringing any heat onto the banks they regularly use. It is increasingly difficult for them to open and keep open these accounts as the U.S also penalizes foreign banks that are known to deal with online gambling companies.

Online Gambling

Check processors are who these sites (and many others who trade in things the U.S would like to put a stop to) have turned to over the past few years. Check processors are just basically the money middle men. They charge the customer accounts and then forward the funds on to the company they are working on behalf of. The same also goes for payments. However bear in mind that these processors are not untouchable and have been known to be taken down by U.S authorities from time to time. When this happens all bets are off, literally, and it is uncertain whether you will recover the money that was due to you or the deposit you made. It doesn’t happen very often but if you are a regular online gambler, chances are you will experience some sort of payment issues at some point. Should this occur we advise you to stay calm and be patient, communicate with the site you were dealing with and see what they are prepared to do for you, they will not want to lose a loyal customer. Just bear in mind that you are probably one of thousands of people who have been affected by the problem.

Reputation

Always check the reputation of the site you’re planning to become a member of. A simple web search will bring up numerous forums where people such as yourself are to be found discussing their experiences. Reports of repeated payment issues, with customers not being compensated is not a good sign. Ask the site in question who does their Echeck processing and then do your own research about them online. How long have they been around? What businesses do they work with, what are people who have been charged by them in the past saying? Also look for companies that are constantly exploring other options as far as payments and withdrawals go. Webwallets and money wires are also options currently in use, they work out slightly more expensive per transaction but they seem to be much more reliable than credit card or check.